Sightings and excitement

Rising with the birds again (second sitting – the first started too early), I found the first part of the day frustrating. I could hear the Trogon circling over a wide area, but never anywhere near the nest, while the echoing call of the Bare-throated Bellbird brilliantly disguised its whereabouts. I eventually gave up on trying to track them both down and got down to some chores.
 
Great happiness, though, in the late afternoon as we were packing to leave. I heard the Trogon nearby and stood very still by the window till he flew up onto the branch where the female had perched yesterday. He was clearly the male, his yellow chest was that much brighter and more clearly defined. He looked around very cautiously for a good minute or two, while I held my breath, before flying to the termite nest and disappearing inside it, not to be seen again.
 
To round things off, I came across two guans under the tree at the end of the lawn rough-cut grass. They weren’t too happy to see me and blundered up into the lower braches before flapping off. Meantime, desperate scrabbling amount the dead leaves up the bank made me think there might be young around, but it turned out to be a giant lizard, at least 2 – 2 /12 feet long, trying to find his way through the wire fence. Eventually he found a gap large enough to push his way through and escaped into the neighbour’s garden. He looked very fierce and I’d have loved to get a shot of him, but there was too much undergrowth in the way. I just hope he didn’t do himself any damage pushing through the wire.
 
Called in on our invalid friend, who left the hospital on Saturday, on our way down to Rio. She said she wasn’t feeling too well, but it’s hardly surprising as she was back on the cigarettes and wine. At least she still has her brother there for company and has had a visit from her daughter, who will be back at the weekend with her two sons.